


bloodstains won't make it matter (got good things, got you)

by fourhorsemen



Category: Free!
Genre: Closeted Character, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25989121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourhorsemen/pseuds/fourhorsemen
Summary: At Worlds, Nanase Haruka and Kinjou Kaede come to blows. Rin becomes collateral damage.
Relationships: Matsuoka Rin/Yamazaki Sousuke
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	bloodstains won't make it matter (got good things, got you)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Hoops - The Rubens.

The roar of the crowd is loud, stadium ringing out in screams of awe as his palm slaps the block, timer ringing out and scoreboard flashing “1.” Haruka pulls himself out of the water, panting, he feels exhilarated and almost drunk as he stares at the time flashing on the World Championship scoreboard. He finds it hard to breath when he turns and sees others still swimming in lane, some only halfway down, including Wåhlander. It is such a clean reversal of Haruka’s first race with the Swede that he wants to scream with the force of his victory.  Haruka has not only beaten the world record, he’s  _shattered_ it. His eyes meet Ryuugi’s in the crowd, where his coach has shot to his feet and he can feel the strength of his pride in the man’s fiery grey eyes from meters away.

Wåhlander’s palm slaps the block and Rin is not far behind. The Swede is immediately running for Haruka, purple eyes sparkling, mouth grinning and he can see Rin right behind him, jogging, slip-sliding, looking so absolutely, unselfconsciously delighted for Haruka. Rin is already shouting his name and Haruka begins walking to go meet him with a wide grin that he can’t seem to get off his face no matter how hard he tries to school his features. But before Rin and Albert can reach him, another shout rings out. 

”  _Nanase!_ ” Haruka turns to see Kinjou Kaede lifting himself out of the pool, whole seconds behind them, golden eyes crazed. He hears confused shouts from Rin and Albert behind him, but he can’t seem to tear his gaze away from the furious blonde who is walking towards him with a single-minded focus, like a predator, eyes glinting with violence.  Kaede grabs him by his goggles before Haruka can think to back away, growling so loudly his spit flies into Haruka’s face. Within seconds, Rin is at his shoulder.

“Oi! What do you think you’re - ” Rin begins, outraged, and Haruka watches in almost slow motion as Kaede's furious eyes swivel and zero in on Rin instead. Before anyone can react, the blonde’s fist is flying, crashing so hard into the side of Rin’s face that the redhead crumples to the ground. 

“  ** _RIN_ ** **_!_** ” Haruka hears himself scream, distantly. He sees the drops of his friend’s blood splattering on the ground, and then he sees red. 

* * *

Sousuke doesn’t even realise when he starts running down the stands towards the pool. The roar of the horrified crowd is deafening in his ears and he can hear the thundering footfalls of Mikhail on his tail, but he’s not actively aware of them. All he can see is Rin’s crumpled form below, hair hanging down to hide his face and even from a distance, the sickening stain of blood on the slick floor. The world falls away and he’s not consciously aware of pushing stadium employees aside as he runs, his vision tunnels and all he can see is  _Rin, Rin, I have to get to Rin_ . 

When he reaches, he falls to his knees, hunching his body protectively over Rin, who has a hand on his face and is now groaning in confusion. He can hear the ruckus behind him, where Haruka has  Kaede pinned beneath him and is pummeling his fists into the blonde’s face, Ryuugi and Albert are trying to bodily pull him off of Kaede. He feels a blaze of fury, wishes he was the one smashing that smug blonde face into the ground, spattering it with  _his_ blood instead but his heart is beating a rapid, scared rhythm and he only has eyes for Rin. 

“  _Sousuke_ ?” Rin mumbles and looks up squinting, when Sousuke wraps his arms around his shoulders, the one eye that Rin hasn’t covered with his hand looking unfocused and pained. 

“  _Rin_ , are you okay?” he whispers, out of breath because there is no air in his lungs he can pull in. He feels terrified and almost without his permission his hands are drifting over Rin’s hair, his face, gently pulling his hand away from where he’s pressed it over his hurt eye. Rin whimpers a little with the pain and Sousuke feels his heart break at the sound. It was a good thing Haruka was already beating Kaede’s face in, Sousuke thought darkly, because if he wasn’t currently occupied Sousuke would snap the man’s neck, public setting be damned. 

“I... Dizzy,” Rin slurs and Sousuke can see his dilated pupils, the ugly bruise already forming on the right side of his face, the swelling starting to close up his eye. Rin looks at up him, amber eyes dazed with a concussion. He cradles Rin’s face in his hands, caressing his thumb in a slow arc on the bruised cheek, not pressing at all, not wanting to hurt Rin and then pulls him gently to his feet with his hands beneath Rin’s shoulders. 

Rin stumbles, legs weak and nearly buckling like a baby fawn taking its first steps. Sousuke pulls him into his own chest, arm around his shoulders, steadying the redhead as he finds his footing. Immediately, Mikhail is at the other side, his hand on Rin’s elbow, holding tightly. For once, he’s silent, eyes worried, flitting nervously over Rin’s face and lingering on the bruise nearly covering the entire right half of his face now. 

Sousuke notices the split lip, belatedly and he feels  _livid_ , his eyes flash to Kaede, upright but hunched over, being shielded by his own coach now. The man is having a shouting match with Ryuugi, who is still physically holding a snarling Haruka back. Sousuke knows if he was in Haruka’s position no one would be able to hold him back. He’d pummel Kinjou Kaede's face into pulp and spit in his eye, but right now... Right now, he thinks, looking down at Rin, who is moaning lightly, his head lolling onto Sousuke’s shoulder, right now Rin is all that matters. 

He and Mikhail usher Rin into the changing rooms by the pool. They sit him down on a bench and Sousuke kneels in front of him, hand raising unbidden to cup Rin’s face again, who sighs a little and leans into the touch. Sousuke feels a twist in his chest but he knows Rin is out of it right now, that the redhead doesn’t know what he’s doing and probably doesn’t even register the less than platonic touch, or the intentions behind it. 

“Rin, how are you feeling?” he murmurs, loath to remove his palm from Rin’s face, so he doesn’t. Rin looks down at him blearily, looking pale, amber eyes unfocused and vibrant hair hanging limp around his face. 

“Dizzy and... embarrassed,” Rin mumbles, turning his face away and Sousuke chases it with his palm, a thumb inadvertently pressing into Rin’s abused lip because he is still scared, terrified, and unwilling to let go. He remembers feeling this way, what now feels like eons ago, watching Rin struggle to pull himself out of a pool, arms trembling and weak, his face pained. 

“Why are you embarrassed?” Sousuke asks in confusion, belatedly registering Rin’s statement. Rin peeks at him, turning his face slightly, his cheeks are reddening and his eyes look slightly more focused now, although still hazy. 

“One punch... and I fell to the floor. It was so embarrassing,” Rin mutters and Sousuke feels a surge of anger at the memory it incites. He tamps it down, not wanting to scare Rin, keenly aware of Mikhail standing behind him, dithering at his shoulder. 

“No it wasn’t. You took a punch for Nanase. It was the most heroic thing I’ve ever seen,” Sousuke says, vehemently, pulling Rin’s face to him to look deeply in his eyes because he believes it, wholeheartedly. Stupid, devoted Rin, getting in the way of a punch meant for Nanase. Loyal, fearless Rin, who hadn’t thought twice before striding up to Kaede, who was already foaming at the mouth, putting himself between the blonde and his best friend without a second thought. 

Sousuke isn’t sure what he would have done in the scenario, if he would have reacted fast enough, but he knows without a shadow of a doubt he wouldn’t have let anyone hurt Rin, had he been able to get there fast enough. He’d take that punch for Rin and give back just as good. He’d take a knife to the heart for Rin, he thinks fervently, looking at Rin’s embarrassed, tired face, amber eyes staring into his, searching his eyes to see if Sousuke is telling the truth. 

“  _Na_ , Rin-kun. Sousuke-kun is right! You were very brave, so heroic!” Mikhail says behind him, loud and cheerful but with a strained edge of worry even Sousuke can pick up on.  Rin, in his disconcerted state, doesn’t seem to notice and laughs lightly in response, then winces when it pulls at his face. Sousuke frowns, feels his heart jump to his throat, wishes desperately he could take Rin’s pain away with just a touch.  He cups Rin’s face in both his palms instead, heedless of Mikhail’s gaze boring into him. 

“Does it hurt a lot? Do you need anything?” Sousuke asks urgently, somehow having moved closer in the mean time, his nose is almost touching Rin’s and Rin’s eyes widen in response. Sousuke pulls back a little, abashed at his own forwardness when Rin’s face starts to pink with a blush, his eyes flitting behind him to Mikhail. 

“Yeah... I. I wouldn’t mind an ice pack, honestly,” Rin mumbles, eyes flicking down, to somewhere on Sousuke’s face. It might be his lips, but Rin is confused right now, he reminds himself, he can’t control where he’s looking. Sousuke stands up, letting his hands fall away from Rin reluctantly and then walks quickly to the medical cabinet he knows is somewhere in here to find an ice pack and a first aid kit. He finds it surprisingly quickly,  his usual tendency to lose his way mysteriously absent and is turning to go back the way he came when he bumps into Mikhail. 

“Oh, hello Sousuke-kun, I see you got the ice pack,” he says amiably, green eyes squinting with a smile. Sousuke nods and tries to move past him but Mikhail stops him with a gentle hand to the shoulder. He looks at Sousuke with a little chagrin. 

“Ah sorry. Rin-kun’s mother and sister are talking to him right now. They’re very worried, you know. It caused them quite a scare,” Mikhail says, smile falling away and a serious expression replacing it that Sousuke has never seen on him before. Mikhail’s hand has not left his shoulder, Sousuke notes and the  older man is staring at him with something unidentifiable in his eyes. There is silence for a while, where Sousuke waits for Mikhail to find his words. 

“Sousuke-kun. I’m glad Rin-kun has someone like you, to take care of him,” he says finally, carefully and Sousuke stiffens a little when he catches the undertones beneath his carefully chosen words. Mikhail smiles at him, quickly, reassuringly and Sousuke relaxes a bit. Sousuke wonders when he became so obvious, and so open with his affections for Rin. He wonders if it is only Mikhail who is perceptive enough to pick up on his feelings for Rin, or if the entire stadium had been staring at him, knowingly, as Sousuke cradled Rin to his chest. The thought terrifies him, but he tamps it down because right now Rin is more important. 

“Thank you,” Sousuke says, a little stiffly and nods. Then, he shoulders past Mikhail and makes for Rin. He comes in to see a crying Miyako-san fussing over Rin with her handkerchief and a teary-eyed Gou sitting beside him on the bench and hugging Rin tightly, refusing to let her brother go. Sousuke understands only too keenly the feeling, when he sees the bruise still blossoming over Rin’s face, turning a darker shade of blue over his pale, perfect, porcelain skin. Somehow, he doesn’t feel like he’s intruding when he enters because both Miyako-san and Gou look relieved to see him.

“Here, this should help,” he says, passing the ice pack to Rin who puts it to his face with a grateful sigh, thanking Sousuke and looking much more lucid. Sousuke’s grip on the first aid kit tightens because he wants to drop to his knees in front of Rin and dab gently at the split in his lip with a swab, alone, just the two of them. He wants to take care of Rin - _precious, unattainable, beautiful Rin_ \- this boy who means so much to him... but he stops himself. He’s not alone with Rin, his eyes flick guiltily to Miyako-san and Gou and he shuffles his feet a little before handing Rin’s mother the first aid kit. 

She thanks him; there's a look in her eyes that Sousuke can’t identify, is too afraid to identify, but she doesn’t ask Sousuke to leave and for that he is so grateful. He stares at Rin as he laughs at Gou’s tearful words, playfully wincing at Miyako-san when she dabs a swab at his lip. Rin’s grin is so bright in the face of every adversity, and he looks so painfully beautiful even with one eye swelling shut. Sousuke stares at how the light plays across Rin’s smiling face, how it catches in his hair, bright red, vibrant, and how it flashes in his soft, fond amber eyes and he feels terrified.

He feels so viscerally _terrified_ because he knows. He knows he would do anything for Rin. He would take on the world for Rin. 

**Author's Note:**

> ... Kinjou Kaede just seems like the kinda crazy-eyed, competitive mofo who'd punch a dude for beating him in a race. Watch KyoAni totally joss this in S4, I bet he'll turn out to be a little sweetheart as well 
> 
> On another note, wrote this because I finally finished S3. I feel sad and lost without Free! boys to watch. :(
> 
> I am also soft for Sousuke taking care of a hurt Rin.


End file.
